I). I.

XVI

Establishment.

It will, of course, be apparent that ordinary commercial standards are scarcely applicable to a Department that apart from its commercial brandies, HydroElectric Supply and Irrigation, has only one side to its ledger—that is, which spends a large annual sum, but does not have revenue. The first and greatest consideration is the community value of the work performed, and the second is the standard of efficiency that is maintained by those responsible to the Government. In this connection I desire to draw the attention of honourable members to the table given below, which sets out a comparison of the strength of the establishment in 1920 and in 1930. A perusal of these figures will show that, while the number of men employed has been increased from 4,691 in 1920 to 12,978 in 1930 and the amount expended from £1,928,000 to £7,781,000, the staff has, in regard to the engineering and clerical branches, increased by only 100 per cent., and in other branches by a lesser figure. In some respects I am convinced that the staff is inadequate when it is remembered that to the 12,978 men employed on standard works there has to be added about 5,000 relief workers. The employment of all this extra labour has undoubtedly placed a strain upon the officers concerned, and one which cannot be maintained indefinitely if it is found necessary to keep the number of workmen up to the figure indicated.

Schedule showing Strength of Establishment, etc., in 1920 and 1930.

It is with sincere regret that I have to record that the following officers of the Department died during the year. Mr. J. B. Robertson, Senior Draughtsman, Head Office, after a fortnight's absence from duty, and Mr. J. C. Buchanan, Waterrace Manager, Otago Central, after an illness of one week. The only officer retired on superannuation was Mr. G. Halliday, Land Purchase Officer, after forty years' service with the Government. As appendices to this Statement honourable members will find full details of the principal works carried out by the Department in the reports of the Engineer-in-Chief, Government Architect, Chief Electrical Engineer, and Main Highways Board respectively. The following are the details of the works in progress :■ — RAILWAY-CONSTRUCTION. The net expenditure as shown on graph was £3,039,540, being £184,354 less than that of the previous year, and is the second highest on record. The total length of all lines under construction over which goods and passenger traffic has been run during the year is 83|- miles, and these services have been well maintained.

1920. 1930. Classified i i i Percentage cj, /v Number A , Number » , Increase staff - Number | of Men Amount Numbe r I of Men Amount in gtaff- , j spent per , A spent per employed. employed. j £ £ U' Engineers and Engineer- ]11 42 15,949 221 59 33,081 100 § ing Cadets 8 Clerical Staff .. .. 132 35 13,411 267 49 27,380 102 r-2 'pj Stores Stafi .. .. 53 88 33,403 104 125 70,297 96 Overseers and Inspectors 118 40 15,003 176 74 41,538 49 "3'a 1 <I) -p Draughtsmen .. 72 65 24,588 139 93 52,596 93 m £ 5 m" Workmen .. .. 4,691 I .. 12,978 .. .. •• o Expenditure, £1,928,000 Expenditure, £7,781,000 Note. —Numbers of men only include the direct employees.